Scary Skin and Beauty Products

Skin has many types. Some have skin types that can easily react to substances that come in contact with the skin. Reaction varies from itching to swelling of some parts or the entire body.

A friend went to work last Saturday and told me that she has allergy. Allergy to what, I asked her. I saw that her face was red and the part around the eyes looked puffy. The previous night she applied a recognized facial whitening cream, an effort to lessen the freckles that had increased and are becoming noticeable because of their color. The result was an itchy and inflamed face the morning after.

She went to work today and she looks worse. An appointment with clients forced her to go to work. She had to see a doctor yesterday because she woke up (after trying Iterax and Claritin) with a swollen face and eyes that were like slits already. The redness and itchiness were spreading to her throat. That sounded scary to me because she could have difficulty breathing if her larynx became swollen, too, because of the reaction. Her doctor gave her Celestamine and a medication to be applied externally on her face.

We all have to be extra careful applying elements on our face and body. My friend did not learn her lesson well when she had a bad experience with a facial product that has hydroquinone and melanin. Her facial skin is hypersensitive and should have tried first dabbing a small amount on her wrist to see if there will be a reaction. She should have tried also seeing an allergist to get an advice on what is best for her face.

I told my friend that she should have filed a complaint. These products must be banned because there was no warning or sufficient info for the consumers. She told me that it wouldn’t be necessary because her doctor told her that complaints were already filed before. It was even a topic of an exposé in television months ago. I wonder what happened to the complaints because these products are still being sold in the market.

In a Jiffy

This will be short. These past few days I don’t have the abundance of time. Now I leave some questions which you might want to indulge yourself with.

• Overheard a friend talking about an officemate who seem to think that her profession is better than my friend’s profession. Is there such a thing as the best profession? Personally, I don’t think there is such a thing as the only profession worth to be nominated as the best. Well, there maybe professions which are profitable in comparison to others. But isn’t it what is important is that one loves doing what he is doing, and that at least he has somebody to pay him for what he loves doing? So, is a chemical engineer superior to a chemist? Or is an artist inferior to a nurse?




• If a tree fell in the middle of the forest and no one was there to hear it , will it still make a sound? Will sound be sound still when you do not hear it? That is a question from my beloved daughter.




• An officemate loves to ‘play’. We are not on speaking terms anymore because I do not play her play. In short, I am not comfortable with her and her actuations, and I don’t think it is necessary to play goody-goody with each other. So, we don’t talk anymore but she ‘plays friends’ with me when hubby is around. Is that flirting? Or a deliberate attempt to annoy me? I just don’t see any reason for her to act like we are close as before. And what is funny even more is when hubby is not around she ignores me which I don’t mind at all. I am not at all threatened or insecure but goodness knows what she is doing! What might she be doing exactly?

Very Tired

Well, this is just one of those I hate. To feel too much makes me too tired.

‘You know how it feels to be like a balloon full of water ready to burst anytime? It feels like it is welling and these emotional susceptibilities are ready to break loose.

I am no superwoman and yet I desire to be one. Whew! Boy, I sound like an emotionalist.

Then Rejuvenated

(written the morning after)

I woke up late this morning. I did not have much sleep. What with the grunts coming from a drunk partner. I tried to close my eyes but I cannot have my ears closed. I wanted to let the situation be - him grunting and me ignoring. I ended up dabbing his face with a towel dipped in hot (err... warm) water. He pulled a face while I was doing it, probably there was some sense left. He could still grimace.

All throughout the night, he was grunting. I did not know what time, but probably it was way past midnight when I blanked over.

I woke up late from a soft kiss planted on my thigh (yes, on my thigh) and soft pats and a soft voice coming from someone trying to make amends. I listened. Then suddenly, as if recalling everything, I burst out (but not with the level of anger the night before) pretending to be angry still. He was laughing. Yes, he was laughing at me (and at everything I was telling him he did). Then he told me he's sorry and that he didn't know what he was doing (which is still a very big question to me - do drunk people really forget what had happened?). And as I have told, he was trying to make amends, to compensate from everything he (unknowingly?) did. Breakfast was ready with my favorite combination of tuyo, fried egg (with no salt) and fried rice. Really good coffee was also prepared.

After breakfast, Kay played her favorite Growing Old With You, by Adam Sandler. I told him to listen especially to the last stanza.

I wanna make you smile whenever youre sad
Carry you around when your arthritis is bad
All I wanna do is grow old with you

Ill get your medicine when your tummy aches
Build you a fire if the furnace breaks
Oh it could be so nice, growing old with you

Ill miss you
Ill kiss you
Give you my coat when you are cold

Ill need you
Ill feed you
Even let ya hold the remote control

So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink
Put you to bed if youve had too much to drink
I could be the (wo)man who grows old with you
I wanna grow old with you

For better or for worse...

The Best Gift

Once again, I would like to share an email from my friend Charry. Here it goes..

Three sons left home, went out on their own and prospered. Getting back together, they discussed the gifts that they were able to give to their elderly mother.

The first said, "I built a big house for our mother."

The second said, " I sent her a Mercedes with a driver."

The third said, " I've got you both beat." You know how Mom enjoys the Bible and you know she can't see very well. I sent her a brown parrot that can recite the entire Bible. It took twenty monks in a monastery 12 years to teach him. I had to pledge to contribute $100,000 a year for twenty years but it was worth it. Mom just has to name the chapter and verse and the parrot will recite it."

Soon thereafter, Mom sent out her letters of thanks.

She wrote to the first son, "Milton, the house you built is so huge. I live in only one room, but I have to clean the whole house."

She wrote to the second son, " Marvin, I am too old to travel. I stay home all the time, so I never used the Mercedes.....and the driver is SO rude.

She wrote to the third son, " Dearest Melvin, You were the only son to have the good sense to know what your mother likes. The chicken was delicious."

If you fell down laughing, then you probably enjoyed the story as much as I did. I will be sharing more of her and my other friends' funny emails.

And it's weekend again! Time flies so fast. Tomorrow it's Christmas once again.

Taboo?

Or it isn't?

As sequel to what I wrote in Sa Aming Wika, "Hayyy, Salamat sa Diyos!" I would like to reiterate that there is nothing wrong (socially, or culturally) when a woman conceives in her middle age. I had heard talks that it is shameful to be seen conceiving when a woman is already in her 40's or 50's.

Contrary to other people's belief, I do not see anything taboo when a woman conceives in her 40's or 50's, carrying the fruit of her love. If an unwed mother (no offense meant) can have her baby and can strut on the road unmindful of what everybody has to say, what more of a middle-aged legally married woman?

What must be the primary concern is the woman's health if she decides to go on conceiving even when she is already in her 40's or 50's. A woman should be at her best during pregnancy. It is important that each pregnancy be planned, that is, both husband and wife agreed to have the baby, and is physical, emotionally and financially prepared to have the little angel (again).

Some retrogade folks can sometimes influence a woman's decision on getting pregnant. Their primitive views dictates the taboo. Foolish talks and unfounded beliefs, therefore, of shame and taboo should not be entertained. A woman should consider her well-being and that is what is important.

But what a relief! :-)

Conceit

Vanity plays lurid tricks with our memory.
- J. Conrad

Wrap up

I cannot help myself but sneak some time off from the busy schedules this week just to check on my blog and some of my favorite blogs and to reply to some comments.  It was a busy week.

The first day of the week was Daryl’s birthday.  We celebrated it the day before so it was Sunday when we bought Han Pao Chicken and Yang Chow Fried Rice, and Dolor’s pancit palabok, puto and sapin-sapin.  I made sure that the foods that will be served are those he loves to eat.  Dinner was served with baked liempo with cream and mushroom coupled with vegetable soup.  He so loved the refrigerator cake after the main course.  He was overjoyed and cannot help but say, “You really prepared foods that I love!”  I think he had already forgotten a sad experience the other day prompting him to write this.

The days that followed were preparations for the surveillance audit.  When it rains, it pours.  There are so many concerns, all sorts, which crammed each day.  But everybody and I managed to be well out of something that has been bothering us for weeks.  There is only a minor deviation and some opportunities for improvement. Thank God!

Wednesday was Kay’s long-awaited day because that is the only day available for her to fulfill her dream of participating in the Longest Painting.  It is being held at SM North Edsa.  The painting she made below was done with water color in a 1-meter wide canvas.  There are no sponsors available now so one has to pay according to the size of the canvas.

It is such a nice feeling that somebody confides to you.  I feel great that there are people who trust me with their personal concerns and secrets. It gives me a grand regard of myself.

You can try Alba’s Home of Spanish Food and Cooking.  Paella Negra tastes good although I was really hesitant eating it at first.  Thanks to the coaxing of the bosses and I was persuaded to give it a try.  It doesn’t taste bad at all, especially with the sweets afterwards.

And now back to blogging…

Gifts with Price Tags

Would you want the receiver to get your gift still with price tag on it? If the answer is a yes, or a no, why?

Most often than not, we get invites to parties. Name it – birthdays, wedding ceremonies, baptism, get-togethers, etc. We also ended up uninvited tagged along (or forced) by the person who was the guest.

I believe that once invited, we should do our very best to attend the gathering. Except in cases of emergency, or indisposition. That way, we give that feeling of importance to the host(s). It’s not easy preparing for a gathering. A simple one eats up time, what more with a grand celebration?

Before totally deviating from the topic, I would want my gift without the price tag. I do that only when there is an exchange gift or a monito-monita activity during Christmas or New Year. That is to let the receiver know that I followed the rule of finding a gift with the agreed price, or with a price not lower than the agreed price.

Other than those events, I make sure that I had removed the price tag. I would not want to obligate the receiver to give me a gift equivalent to what I gave. Most gifts anyway with price tags still on it are pricey. Also, I would not want the receiver to feel that I am buying him/her. Not really a comfortable thought for me.

On a positive note, perhaps those who give gifts with price tags still on them want the receiver to know that they value the connection. Ouch, I sound unconvincing.

Pet Peeves

1. One day, in the bank, I heard a woman squealing when a bank representative finally approached her. It turned out to be that she wasn’t able to withdraw money from the bank’s ATM machine. The machine manufactured a receipt that indicates it’s a hot account. Her tantrum went almost like this:

“What this mean? It say hot. What hot-hot-hot, very hot? You know it’s the first time that happen to me. I come from Australia, I come in and out of the Philippines and this not happen to me. I am from Cavite

And her words trailed off while I was exiting the bank. I was mumbling to myself that the woman in her boots and ‘Australian’ get-up must have forgotten that she is already in Pinas. It could have been easier for her and for those who listen to her if she talked in the native language. She is not in Australia anymore.

2. While paying for my credit card bills, I told the cashier in the Bills section at SM to give the change to the other bill that lacks a few peso. She then later asked me, “Pero lahat na po ito? (All of this?),” handing the other bill that lacks a few peso. Of course I said yes. Then she punched the entire amount of the first bill leaving no change for the other bill. Wonder if I’d given the instruction wrong or she’s plain stupid.

3. At the food court, there is an area where animal (artificial) rides roam. One inserts tokens and then the rider can maneuver the ‘animal’ with its steering wheel. I walked in between two ‘animals’ calculating that the area is enough for me to trod. Suddenly one of the ‘animals’ turned left, the rider seemingly confused what is left or right, hitting me on a leg. Another ‘animal’ rider made it run straight to me, hitting me on my other leg, almost simultaneous with the one that hit me first. The simpletons couldn’t even utter their apologies. And they even have the nerve to register anger on their faces.

4. Before going home, we went to Watson to buy Care diapers for my mother-in-law. Seeing no Care diaper, Papsie decided to ask one of the sales clerk. He received, “May pila. (There is a queue.)” Papsie later told me this when I asked what that sales clerk said. I was indignant and said, “She could have answered you. That is all you need.” After a while, another sales clerk approached the counter. Papsie asked the same question which she gladly answered with a smile. Papsie told the first sales clerk, “O, di ba, tapos na? Yun lang naman ang kelangan ko.(It’s done, isn’t it? That’s all I need.)” The impertinent sales clerk played oblivious.